As Pam points out, the revelations in CNN anchor Don Lemon’s new book Transparent aren’t significant just because a major news anchor is coming out — though that is huge in and of itself and has the potential to help a lot of people — but also because he’s a gay black man, because “it will generate conversations that have only recently been broached about the double minority status of being gay and a person of color.” From The New York Times:
“People are going to say: ‘Oh, he was molested as a kid and now he is coming out.’ I get it,” he said.
Few national television news anchors or hosts have publicly acknowledged being gay. Rachel Maddow is perhaps the best known. Her MSNBC colleague, Thomas Roberts, has also come out as gay.
Mr. Lemon has not made a secret of his sexual orientation in his work life; many of his CNN co-workers and managers have long been aware that he is gay. But he still acknowledged that going public in his book carries certain risks.
“I’m scared,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for.”
[...]
Even beyond whatever effect his revelation might have on his television career, Mr. Lemon said he recognized this step carried special risk for him as a black man.
“It’s quite different for an African-American male,” he said. “It’s about the worst thing you can be in black culture. You’re taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine. In the black community they think you can pray the gay away.” He said he believed the negative reaction to male homosexuality had to do with the history of discrimination that still affects many black Americans, as well as the attitudes of some black women.
That’s what it takes to break down those walls, though. The more that people like Don speak up and tell their stories, the more the “taboo” is broken, and ultimately, the more people it helps. Incidentally, Don is dedicating his book in honor of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who committed suicide last fall after being bullied. So congratulations and a big thank you go out to Don Lemon, that he may be an inspiration to gay kids who feel alone, and especially to African-American gay kids. Hell, living with courage and integrity is a lesson for everyone.
This of course broke just after news came out that high ranking NBA exec Phil Welts had come out, breaking another barrier in another world where too few have been broken up to this point.
I’m sure some wingnuts will react to this, so when they do, I’ll share them if they’re funny.
Rush Limbaugh responded to accusations that hateful right-wing rhetoric was responsible for the carnage in Arizona. His inflammatory quote on the topic is indicative of why we should restore the Fairness Doctrine that would require genuine balance for broadcasters. Thugs like Limbaugh are grossly irresponsible and undeserving of a microphone. The cumulative affect of Limbaugh’s ugly rants is a divided America that pits neighbors against each other. Here is Limbaugh’s divisive, politicized response to accusations that his show leads to potential violence:
“What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He’s sitting there in jail; he knows what’s going on. He knows that a Democrat [sic] Party — the Democrat [sic] Party — is attempting to find anybody but him to blame.
“He knows if he plays his cards right that he’s just a ‘victim.’ He’s the latest in a never ending parade of victims brought about by the ‘unfairness of America.’ The ‘bigotry, racism, homophobia’ of America. The ‘mean-spiritedness of America.’ [...]
“That smiling mugshot — this guy clearly understands he’s getting all the attention, and he understands he’s got a political party doing everything it can, plus a local sheriff doing everything they can to make sure he’s not convicted of murder.”
Likewise, Sarah Palin circles the wagons and offered a blistering video critique of critics:
“Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own,” she says in the seven-minute web video. “They begin and end with the criminals who commit them. “Especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, she says, “journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”
As usual, Sarah is just flat out wrong and has little understanding of history. Incidents like the one in Arizona may end with the criminal who commits the crime, but they usually begin with propagandists who use irresponsible rhetoric to incite those who are unstable. Nearly every mass slaughter, eliminationist campaign, or genocide was a deadly consequence of rhetoric that demonized an outside group.
The way that these political and media personalities talk about liberals, gay people, Muslims, immigrants, college professors etc., invites harassment, intimidation and violence. It creates unnecessary anger and causes our great political system to become unstable.
No informed person of good conscience — Republican or Democrat — can honestly say that Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and others of their ilk have been good for America. They have made this once secure nation a place that is bitterly divided and the result is a weaker country that is sliding from greatness.
The question is — what is the end game for Palin and Limbaugh? Unless they want to lead an armed insurrection to overthrow of the U.S. government, they should immediately end their chest-thumping gun talk, and trashing of federal workers. Because they are creating a hostile and deadly climate. At worst they are responsible for actual deaths, at best they are to be blamed for diminishing America’s strength that is rooted in unity.
Unfortunately, both Limbaugh and Palin appear to be badly damaged individuals incapable of introspection, personal responsibility or examining how their rhetoric impacts society. As a result of their arrogance and denial, there will be additional bloodshed in the future with innocent men, women and children losing their lives.
To perhaps nobody’s surprise, a study released this week finds that Fox News viewers are the most misinformed of any news consumers.
The University of Maryland study, called “Misinformation and the 2010 Election,” looked at “variations in misinformation by exposure to news sources,” among other things, and specifically newspapers and news magazines (in print and online), network TV news broadcasts, NPR and PBS, Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.
These are some things Fox viewers believe, all of which are patently not true:
Most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely)
Most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points)
The economy is getting worse (26 points)
Most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points)
The stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points)
Their own income taxes have gone up (14 points)
The auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points)
When TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points)
And that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points)
To us over here in Reality Land, to hold even one of these beliefs is beyond stupid. But Fox’s genius has been to feed easily led people complete bullshit in service of the Almighty Dollar while simultaneously convincing them that allegiance to their network is part of a larger tribal war for “Real Murrika.” The fact that so many people have, like peasants, pledged their heartfelt fealty to this paradigm is a sad statement about our country, but that’s just how it is.
Samuel Brown is a member of New Birth Church, the same church where Bishop Eddie Long has preached many anti-gay sermons. In 2004, Long led a march in Atlanta in support of banning same-sex marriage.
Brown also happens to be a gay male. Brown and his life partner Derrick joined New Birth initially, not saying a word about their sexuality to anyone. In light of the allegations of sexual misconduct surrounding Bishop Eddie Long, Brown has decided to share his story exclusively with BET News to express his discontent with his pastor.
Over the weekend, SBS “Dateline” in Australia aired a report about those in Uganda who live in fear for their safety due to their opposition to the country’s barbaric Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Those behind the new laws see homosexuality as an abomination against their religion and believe a Western ‘homosexual juggernaut’ is threatening Uganda. They say they want to ‘cure’ gays and lesbians and get rid of all homosexual influence in the country.
One lawyer opposing the plans tells video journalist Aaron Lewis that even murderers are treated with higher regard than gays and lesbians.
The transcript begins by introducing the dangers faced by human-rights activist Frank Mugisha:
Daily life on the street has become even more difficult for Uganda’s sexual minorities since the campaign for the bill began. Not yet passed into law, the bill has further criminalised Frank and others in the eyes of the public.
FRANK MUGISHA: Many Ugandans have taken the law into their own hands and started attacking homosexuals, beating them up. Landlords have thrown people out of their houses because they are saying “If this legislation is passed and I have a homosexual who is a tenant, then I become a criminal, so it is better I throw you out now before the law is passed”.
Pepe works with Frank on advocacy for sexual minorities.
PEPE: Kampala is one of the places that is known for mob injustice – anything can happen. You can move on the street and someone can say “Look, the homosexual is doing something” – just that word alone is going to draw attention and something can happen so that we live in fear of all the time.
Besides outright violence, Ugandan mobs are taught by certain Christian churches to use “corrective rape” as a method of turning people straight.
Sheila Mugisha is a lesbian. She’s lived her entire life under attack. Sheila’s worst fears were realised at only 12 years old. She had already started to show interest in other girls and she then became the target of what is known here as curative rape.
REPORTER: Curative rape is the process of sexually assaulting someone hoping that, that process will turn them into a heterosexual?
SHEILA MUGISHA: Yes.
REPORTER: And this has happened to you?
SHEILA MUGISHA: It has happened to me.
REPORTER: Can you tell me anything about that?
SHEILA MUGISHA: At the age of 12 I had a friend at home – and actually these things are done by friends. I had always told him my stories, my secrets, my encounters in bed. So, he would tell me, “You know what? I want to teach you how to play with boys, not with girls.” He put his leg here, and here, and then he got into my body, into my vagina, and I screamed because I’d never had any sex, I’d never known, you know, any of those practices. “So, from now, you are going to learn how to play with boys.”
As a result of the rape, Sheila became pregnant at the age of 12. Her family took her to have the child aborted but the effects of the rape continued.
SHEILA MUGISHA: I went to a certain AIDS information centre in Mengo with a friend – I took a test – and it was positive.
SBS observes that “Uganda is a deeply Christian country where the church and state work hand in glove.”
Hand in glove, that is, to purge and kill religious dissidents. They learned the rationale for such a purge from the U.S. ex-gay movement:
If the anti-homosexuality act were to be passed, courts like this could have their hands full. A whole range of everyday behaviours, including public touching, text messaging, or reporting on a gay or lesbian issue, would be criminalised. Even witnessing an act of same-sex public affection and failing to report it to the authorities could land you in the dock.
DAVID BAHATI: I think the bill addresses the real problem. And the real problem is promotion of homosexuality in Uganda. Whether it is children, whether it’s the adult people, it’s the real problem.
David Bahati and Moses Male both believe that if no-one is promoting the homosexual lifestyle, there simply won’t be homosexuals.
PASTOR MOSES MALE: None is born a homosexual. Homosexuality is a habit that is gradually learned. When it is gradually learned, it can finally become an addiction, just like drugs, just like alcoholism.
Evangelicals are teaching this myth in Uganda because the ex-gay movement was never discredited there:
Lad Rakafuzi tells me that this idea of promotion is the biggest danger for Uganda’s sexual minorities.
LAD RAKAFUZI: That means shutting out debate on these issues. Which means it will be infringement of freedom to speak and freedom to communicate, and to receive information.
Dissidents include religious authorities:
Bishop Alawe Sonjogo was threatened with excommunication from the Anglican Church of Uganda for defending the rights of homosexuals.
BISHOP ALAWE SONJOGO: That bill is draconian and the first thing – people into hiding.
REPORTER: In what way is the bill draconian?
BISHOP ALAWE SONJOGO: First of all, you have to report, me as a counsellor, I would be reporting people who are homosexuals – if I don’t – I could be punished. So anyone working with a person is supposed to report that person. And again, the punishments, the penalties are so severe, ranging from five years to life imprisonment, even to have some people sentenced to death.
Meanwhile, journalist Stanley Nduala of the antigay vigilante tabloid Red Pepper admits what “values” drive the antigay pogrom:
REPORTER: So here in Uganda, being a rapist is minor compared to being a homosexual?
An article in today’s New York Times says that as more Republican gays come out, overt gay bashing is on the outs in the GOP.
The muted reaction reflects not only changing values in the country generally, but also, more notably, among many Republicans and conservatives.
The center of gravity of the conservative movement in this election season is with fiscal conservatives. The Tea Party is infusing the Republican Party with new energy, and Tea Party leaders and supporters say they do not want to talk about social issues: even if they do not personally support same-sex marriage or abortion, they think the Republican Party spent too much time talking about them and not enough time trying to rein in spending.
Truth Wins Out was one of the first organizations to recognize that a tipping point has occurred. As early as May I wrote:
The war over gay rights in America and other modern nations has been largely won. Too many people have come out of the closet and will never go back in for the clock to be turned back.
Most of these out individuals have loyal friends and family members who offer unequivocal love and unqualified support. We have reached a tipping point where LGBT people are even coming out in traditionally conservative bastions where the issue has long been seen as taboo.
This huge shift in society is why we are holding our noses and welcoming people like Ken Mehlman (after his redemption tour), in hopes that thousands of other Closet Kens will come out and end state sanctioned homophobia. This process is happening at an stunningly fast rate, as social conservatives are losing momentum.
“There are now more and more Republicans, and conservative Republicans, who have talked about this issue through the prism of being an equal rights issue, and being an issue that should not define the conservative movement and the party,” said Steve Schmidt, who was part of that inner circle as a spokesman and strategist for Mr. Bush’s 2004 campaign.
This shift is occurring because cynical Republicans that rely on wedge issues to win elections are seeing that gay bashing is losing its power. It seems that border fences, tax giveaways to the rich and launching ill-advised wars in the Middle East pack more punch, these days.
Matthew Dowd, another top strategist for Mr. Bush who broke with him after the re-election campaign, said that same-sex marriage had ceased to be a big issue for many voters — including conservatives and religious ones — even in 2004. In polling and focus groups before that election, he said, Republicans and conservatives cited terrorism, taxes and the war in Iraq as the issues that would move them to the polls.
Of course, the Caveman Cabal will fight like crazy to make sure the GOP remains firmly entrenched in Medieval times.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Mr. Mehlman’s announcement helped explain “the scandalous failure” of the Republican establishment to fight same-sex marriage. “It is important for the conservative movement that the Republican Party remains committed to its longtime stance on core social issues,” he said.
Perkins can bleat and beat his chest all he wants, but the numbers are no longer on his side:
In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in March 2004, a plurality of Americans under 45 — 35 percent — said there should be no legal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships. Forty-five percent of Americans 45 and older said the same. By April 2010, just 24 percent of Americans ages 18 to 44 surveyed said that there should be no legal recognition, and 35 percent of Americans 45 and older said the same.
For the past decade, every time voters wiped away LGBT rights at the ballot box, Perkins and others of his ilk would bellow, “majority rules.” I’m curious if these neo-Puritans will still respect the will of the people when they are entrenched on the minority side of public opinion. My hunch is that they will suddenly lose respect for “the people”.
In May and June, I pointed out that we have reached a tipping point on LGBT equality.
Mainstream newspapers are finally catching on to this reality. Today’s New York Times had a good story, “Over Time, a Gay Marriage Groundswell”, that shows the trend towards public acceptance.
The article revealed that only 25-percent of Americans supported marriage equality in 1994-1996. Now, between 45-50-percent of Americans support equal marriage rights. Amazingly, a majority of people support “gay marriage” in 22 states. Support has increased in all states — except Utah.
Ex Gay Watch revealed in an investigative report that Light House World Evangelism, Inc. will close. This ministry has been run by Matthew C. Manning, who claims God had cured him of AIDS and homosexuality. Although, his claims seem doubtful, considering he was arrested on three separate occasions for soliciting men. He was also banned from a popular gym after improper sexual advances were made on a 22-year-old heterosexual male.
According to Ex-Gay Watch, Manning had a revelation from God during the Winter Olympics to close up his sodomy shop, um, I mean, ministry.
“During the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, the torch was extinguished, and the flame was symbolically given to the next host country. At the very moment the flame was extinguished in Canada, God said to me, ‘The Flame the Anointing the Presence and Power of My Holy Spirit, will no longer reside over LightHouse World Evangelism, Inc., rather it is being transferred to a new ministry that I am calling you and your family to.”
We can only look forward to Manning’s next venture. Maybe he will open a fundamentalist gym, now that he has no place to pump….iron.
As Pam points out, the revelations in CNN anchor Don Lemon’s new book Transparent aren’t significant just because a major news anchor is coming out — though that is huge in and of itself and has the potential to help a lot of people — but also because he’s a gay black man, because “it will generate conversations that have only recently been broached about the double minority status of being gay and a person of color.” From The New York Times:
In 
